


Fading Away

by Arel_Rhink



Category: Rhett & Link, rhink - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-18 01:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7293130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arel_Rhink/pseuds/Arel_Rhink





	Fading Away

April, 1994

That was when I figured it all out. We’d been the best of friends for about ten years now, and it took me until then to realize how I had felt towards him. Every morning spent walking or biking to school, every weekend we spent camping or swimming or having sleepovers, every time his bright blue eyes shone like the midnight stars… I yearned for something more. Sure, the friendship we had was already something more than just being best friends… we were also blood brothers sworn together for eternity with the anticipation of doing something awesome together when we got older. Even with all that history between us, I still wanted more.

I peeled back a strip of wallpaper behind the headboard of my bed and gazed upon the bare wall. I traced my fingers around the lumps of dried glue and glided them across the bumpy plaster. I could almost see something in the pattern I was tracing, and kept my finger going over the same path over and over and over again until I got I memorized perfectly. I took a pen from my desk and traced that pattern again with the utensil in hand. The ink kept scratching at the plaster as it left its ebony markings in its tracks. Once I finished, I scooted back on my bed and examined my graffiti. Those four letters were engraved into the wall… spelling the name that would make my heart flutter and my knees buckle if I wasn’t careful enough. When I heard the knocking on my bedroom door, I instantly flattened the flap of wallpaper and pressed my bed back up against it before heading out for dinner that evening.

I made another oath regarding my best friend. I gave myself from that moment until his name no longer remained on that wall to tell him how I felt, knowing that time and the friction of my bed rubbing up against it would cause it to erode and fade.

December, 2004

I went back to my parents’ house for Christmas. Spending the night in my childhood bed gave me nostalgic feelings I thought I’d never have again. In the middle of my reminiscing, I recalled that etching I made ten years ago, along with the abandoned promise that was tied to it. I scratched my bed against the floorboards, moving it away from the wall. When I peeled the wallpaper back, my heart skipped a beat or two at the heartbreaking sight. After all that time, the ink had been eroded and faded away, showing the stale plaster behind it. My chest felt heavy and my head hung low as bitter tears began to blur my vision. I brought my finger up to the wall for the last time, moving my hand in the miraculously still memorized motions. Nice and slow, savoring and mourning the remains.

I felt a slight indent along the trail… and my finger stopped dead in its tracks. I dried my eyes and kept the oxygen in my lungs. I peered closer, squinting my eyes in the efforts to focus. To my fortunate surprise, the marks were still there – but just barely legible. I still had time to fulfill my promise.

I sprinted out the door and started my car, heading towards my best friend’s mother’s house, where he was spending the holidays this year. I knocked on the door, and the handsome brunet graced my presence as he opened the barrier between us. He was surprised at my sudden appearance and questioned my arrival, without even a phone call. Without hesitation, I took hold of his warm hands as my eyes watered up. I don’t know why it took me this long to get the courage to do this, but this was my chance to reach for the relationship I could never have during the twenty years of our precious friendship. Everything seemed to freeze when I took that deep breath of anticipation, holding it in my lungs with great effort as I looked into those searching sapphire irises.

I kissed him…

And I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I felt those soft, warm lips kiss me back.


End file.
